Loved ones of the Squamish youth want closure

There's one thing the people closest to Jodi Henrickson all agree on: she loved to hang out with friends.

That was exactly what the Squamish teen was doing three years ago when she went missing — she hasn't been seen since.

At the age of 17, she went to Bowen Island to hang out with friends for a few days to celebrate the end of the school year. Police believe her life ended in the early days of that summer three years ago.

Her brother Rob said his sister would go around town and just hang out with people she knew. When she wasn't hanging out she loved to draw. Today, many of those drawings decorate her family home.

"We have quite a few of them around the house," said Rob, adding that though Jodi's room is redecorated the house is filled with mementoes of her.

"There's pictures of her all over the house still. I guess it was pretty hard on my mom to have to see all of her clothes and different things."

Chelsea Armstrong and Tiffany Sweet, two of Jodi's closest friends, both have drawings Jodi created for them as well.

"She drew all the time," said Sweet. "Always drawing."

Both Armstrong and Sweet want people to know more about Jodi and her disappearance because, like Jodi's brother and family, they want closure for the missing person case that police are treating as a homicide investigation.

According to Rob, police investigators check in with the family regularly. Recently, he was given early notice when a body was discovered on Bowen close to a home once inhabited by Gavin Arnott, Jodi's ex-boyfriend.

"It was a relief but at the same time (getting the call) is still pretty negative," said Rob of the police call. "It was a relief in that it wasn't my sister's body."

Rob, Armstrong, and Sweet say Jodi became friends with a new set of people who lived on Bowen Island once she started dating Arnott, who also lived on there.

And she continued to visit the island even after the pair broke up — despite the fact that a restraining order was in place to keep Arnott away from Jodi. The police believe Arnott was the last person to see her that weekend.

As the months turn into years, Jodi's friends still recall the times they dressed up for Halloween and pranked their friends.

"She loved to dress up," said Sweet. "She was very particular with make up and hair."

One year, Henrickson and a group of friends celebrated Halloween by dressing up as the members of the musical group The Pussycat Dolls.

As the friends chat about Jodi there are so many memories — the walks she took with her dog Panda, the crazy stuffed dog she would take on walks too, that she just couldn't tell a lie and, said Armstrong, "she liked English but she didn't like math."

Once, recalled Armstrong, Jodi had a teacher convinced her name was Katy and that she had been missed from the official class list.

Jodi loved to give people nicknames, calling Armstrong "Chelseakins." They got in on the fun too referring to Jodi as "Jodinator," a name they came up with while working at Wendy's when the Baconator was featured at the restaurant.

Sweet was "Tazman" and she nicknamed Jodi "Choda."

Armstrong and Jodi also worked together, and down time would find them on different extensions at work chatting even though they were only two aisles apart.

Like any teen she dreamed of her future, said Sweet, adding that Jodi loved to cook and had thought about pursuing work in foods once she graduated. "She wanted to cook," said Sweet.

The weekend Jodi disappeared Sweet said Jodi tried to convince her to go with her to Bowen Island.

"She was upset I wasn't going," said Sweet.

When it was apparent to Jodi that Sweet wasn't going, and wouldn't be convinced, Sweet said they hugged and went on their way. It wasn't a big deal that Jodi was going to Bowen on her own as she had been going every weekend, said Sweet, the bittersweet memory of that last hug is still powerful.

The summer solstice weekend of June 2009 marked the last time Jodi was seen. Anyone who knows anything about the disappearance is asked to contact the police or Crimestoppers.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) tip line number is 1-877-551-IHIT(4448). The team receives email at ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

Anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or tips can be shared through SolveCrime.ca.